To say that the 2013 Eibach Honda Meet was a “monumental success” would almost be an understatement… If you were there at any point of the day from the early morning until the late afternoon, you would definitely agree. By all accounts, this was the biggest and best Eibach Honda Meet to date. The argument by its detractors has always been how great this meet used to be or how it was better in its earlier years and while it is important to appreciate the past, it is also essential to embrace the future. Growth is a vital part of this community and if you do not grow with the changing times, well…you’re just gonna get left behind. The fact is that the Eibach Meet has outgrown itself and it will need to continue to expand.

Do you think that Ryan Hoegner and Rodrez, the original creators of the Eibach Honda Meet, wanted to leave the Eibach facility in Corona? Fuck no. Of course not. In a perfect world, the Eibach facility would have an endless amount of space and could accommodate as many enthusiasts as possible. In this makeshift world, they would never have to leave the Eibach facility where it all started and would hold it every year there. The world, as you should know, is not perfect. With success comes growth, expansion, and unfortunately, more haters and people that would choose to speak ill of Ryan and Rodrez’s efforts. The Eibach Meet has always been by the enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.

Reality presents two very dedicated men who are both fathers and husbands, who have full-time jobs, and who are also automotive enthusiasts like you and I. They put this meet together because they have a great deal of love and appreciation for what this community provides and despite the people who do nothing but spend time behind a computer attempting to tear down their efforts, they have pushed on and continued to make the Eibach Honda Meet better every year. The overall growth was expected. As with every successful endeavor, everyone wants to be involved. I don’t think any of us really expected the Eibach Meet to ever get this big this quickly, but that is just how things worked out.

Last year was a little rough, I’ll admit and I think Ryan and Rodrez would admit to it as well. It was a trial effort and the first time that the Eibach Meet had left its home in Corona, CA. Things could have gone smoother, could have been better, but it had to be done so that they could learn from their mistakes to improve on the event itself. We all thought that the Irwindale Speedway was a good home for Eibach and the event outgrew that place as well. They had to find a venue that could not only hold all the vehicles but also hold the spectators and the crowd coming in and out. Storm Stadium in Lake Elsinore provided that space.

Now, onto the debate between the Eibach Honda Meet being a true “meet” or “car show”. These two words wouldn’t be so significant if money were not involved but any time people complain about money, they like to throw out that notion that meets should all be free. Again, in a perfect world, everything would be free. Car meets would be free, food would be free, gas would be free, everyone could get hand jobs from beautiful strangers, and no one would have to worry about booking a venue for an event. The reality, once again, tells a different story. Reality has revealed to us that car meets are only free if they are relatively small or poorly organized. Holding a meet inside some fucking strip mall in the suburbs is free because whoever organized it has only made a marginal effort to keep it that way. You hold this meet inside of a strip mall with multiple businesses and not only are surrounding businesses affected because their customers can’t come in and park anywhere, they also lose business because people don’t want to deal with some of these enthusiasts acting like fools and doing stupid shit. It’s free for the organizer and meet attendees but the people losing money are the businesses that are losing customers because some poorly planned meet is hurting their business. You could attempt to hold a meet of the caliber of the Eibach Honda Meet inside some parking lot inside a shopping center and you will fail before you even take your second breath. It doesn’t make sense and it is nearly impossible to hold a meet of this size unless money is spent to not only get city permits that authorize them, but also to rent a venue, pay for insurance, hire staff, and hire security. That is only the surface costs that are involved. When you get deeper into it, you really start to see the costs that add-up. You the meet-attendee needs to pay to be a part of this event because the people who organized it are coming out of their own pockets to pay for you to make this possible.

If you want to complain about money, then save money and don’t fucking come. That is always an option but people just love to complain all the fucking time about shit that really can be fixed by you simply removing yourself from the situation. You gotta pay to play folks, that is true with every aspect of life. “Free” is an imaginary word in the automotive industry. You’re reading this site for “free” and guess who is incurring the costs to keep this place running for you to view these photos? Yeah, the same guy that is also typing out a story for you to read for “free” and using equipment that definitely isn’t “free”. The fact that people like to complain about stupid shit like this is utterly ridiculous. “If it’s paid for, then it should be a full-on car show where cars are screened so the quality is better”….Well who the fuck decided that your car was good enough to pass the screening process for YOU to get into this “car show”? And when you don’t get in, then of course the natural reaction is to complain. Just because you don’t agree with the way some people build their cars, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t allowed to be parked next to you. Hell I disagree with peoples’ tastes all the time but that doesn’t give me the right to tell them that they can’t show up. The Eibach Honda Meet has always been a MEET and will continue to carry on that idea. You have to pay now because you were spoiled by the old meets. Everyone was and now we all have to put out some money to keep this event going. There isn’t anything wrong with that. It’s called being a “community” of enthusiasts. And if the organizers take home some extra cash for dedicating their time to organizing this event and taking time away from spending it with their own families, they should be able to because they DESERVE it.

I’ll say it once again…if you don’t like where the Eibach Honda Meet is going, then you simply do not have to show up or participate. It’s that simple.

This is running long so I’ll give my thoughts on the actual event tomorrow in Part 2. For now, let’s all relax a bit and check out the first batch of photos…

I arrived to the venue at around 7:30 am or so and the streets were already packed with people waiting to get in. The event was much more organized this year with one line directing people to the spectator lot, and the other strictly for people who registered to be inside the meet itself. I had a booth to set-up as always so there weren’t too many photos taken until after we had set-up. May and the rest of our group of friends were also involved with helping the roll-in process as well as handling the entrance gate so we were all pretty busy that morning. It wasn’t until around 9:30 am or so when I was finally able to pick up the camera and snap some photos. Below are from the early morning before the gates opened to the public. I tried to get whatever I could in between setting up the display for the booth and running back and forth to see if the Eibach staff needed help with anything…

One of the most talked about builds at the 2013 Eibach Honda Meet had to have been Ryan’s debuting E-AT Civic build. You read about it and saw some snaps of it in the previous post, and at Eibach, everyone got to have a first-hand look at the beautifully-done car in person. There is still much to be done but the project is coming along very nicely…

Since The Chronicles and Rywire have such a great relationship together, it was only appropriate that the Civic debuted at The Chronicles booth at Eibach…

The Mugen NR10Rs are indeed a rare classic, but this particular wheel set-up won’t be the final look for the E-AT as Ryan has other wheels in mind for this E-AT for other events going on in 2013…

Over at the Eibach Springs booth was four of the nicest track-prepped Hondas around. While these vehicles are well-built and well-maintained, they definitely do not do a whole lot of events where they just sit pretty. These cars are assembled to see track days and race events and get thrashed on pretty heavily. Above is Larry Luster’s K-swapped Integra Type R on Volk TE37s…

Tony Jackson’s Civic wearing a full Eibach-themed graphical livery…

On the other side of the Eibach booth were Mike “Donut” Hatten’s Integra and Tom “Tom Attck” Liang’s K-EF…

Donut’s Integra has seen a ton of changes over the last couple of years. It started out as just a daily, then turned into a weekend track toy, and now has been converted to a full-on track car. I’m really digging the current set-up now with the vented hood, Special Projects aero, red 949Racing 6UL wheels, and chalked Nitto tires…

Tom’s EF used to be one of the roughest-looking track Hondas around but now looks much more refined with the white vinyl wrap and JHPUSA theme…

Across the way from the Eibach Springs booth was the Circuit Monster booth, featuring Andy Hope’s Honda CR-X race car…

…and the current Honda Tuning magazine cover car, the Hasport-built K-turbo BB4 Honda Prelude. This thing has to be seen in person. I was shocked when I heard that they were building a BB4 and was completely surprised by the final result. This thing looks amazing and should perform very-well with the turbo K once it is all dialed-in…

One of the cleanest Honda builds among the hundreds and hundreds of Hondas that day had to have been this Civic from RC’s Garage. It looks nearly unrecognizable now but this used to be RC’s Civic that was on the cover of Honda Tuning a while back. He has since sold it to a friend and now it sports a K-swap and immaculately-executed engine bay performed by RC himself…

Jon Fob’s NSX on Takata Green TE37SLs parked at the Toyo Tires booth…

It seems like ages now since I’ve seen this Top Secret-themed Honda S2000 originally built by Bulletproof Automotive. Cool to see that it is still intact…

Michael Mao’s twin-turbo NSX. A build that really needs no introduction at this point as it has been everywhere in the past year…

Luigi Arroyo’s J’s S2000…

Ahmed’s Integra Type R is looking great these days with the Mugen aero and bronze TE37s. I’m a fan in particular of his JUN theme which is rarely seen these days…

He’s recently gone the turbo route and is looking to squeeze some more power out of his motor…

JUN-themed valve cover with JUN spark plug wire cover…

Ahmed’s custom honey-combed carbon Status Racing seats with colors matching his JUN theme. Of course the cage is also coated to match…

Gil Salazar from Circuit Hero’s other Integra Type R project that he’s recently completed, featuring a K-swap like his other R…

The last time we saw this EF was when the motor blew due to a fuel issue at the last FF Battle event in 2012. You’ll be happy to know that it is in perfect running condition again and you should be seeing this thing on the track again very soon…

AP2 S2000 with Voltex front bumper and Enkei NT03…

A very nicely done Integra on black Mugen MF10 wheels prepared by RC’s Garage…

Pretty interesting back story behind this build here. I don’t know if you guys remember HBK Jon’s old EG hatchback (Purple with teal engine bay, CLICK HERE) but this is actually his old car that has since been completely redone. Looks great and man, what a transformation. This chassis has changed hands a couple of times but I’m happy to see that it is now in a good home looking better than ever….

Parked right behind The Chronicles booth was this turbo Civic on custom “Mag Blue” WED’s TC05 wheels…

The Integra Type Rs were out in full force at Eibach 2013. This Phoenix Yellow R was just one of many on hand…

Advan Racing wheels on this black Integra…

Loi Hua from Loi-Spec Garage’s black Integra Type R on Hyper Blue 15×8 Volk TE37s…

It’s almost a rarity these days to see an ITR with the original U.S. bug-eye front end…

Lewis Liang’s Integra Type R with two different red Recaro seats…

Closing out Part 1 of the Eibach 2013 Coverage for now with this beautifully simplistic Integra Type R. Love the wheels and the overall “stance”, if you will, of the entire car with the meaty tire and everything. Just a nearly timeless set-up on this R. Well done…

Stay tuned for much much more!…